Sunday, January 20, 2008

In the Nick of Time

When Abigail was born, I was admonished from all quarters to enjoy every moment of her babyhood because babies grow like mushrooms after a warm rain.

I thought I comprehended this fully, until I arrived for Christmas to find the sweet but mostly inert lump-in-a-blanket I'd seen in July had sprouted arms, legs, and motor skills. Here she is accompanying me in selections from Schubert's Winterreise on Christmas Day.

That was a real kick in the ass to finish the incomplete Debbie Bliss baby kimono I'd had lying around the apartment since August. I'd made it in the 9-12 month size when Abigail at 9-12 months seemed a remote possibility. Now I had minutes to sew the thing up before she'd outgrow it.

My experience with seaming is limited, but I admit (at the risk of being smacked in the head by several of you) that I actually enjoy it. The seams (in spite of my incomplete grasp of proper shoulder technique) were not the problem.

The problem was the embroidery. In My Baby Is Better Dressed Than Your Baby, Ms. Bliss covers the kimono with little daisies rendered in embroidery floss. The effect is charming and in perfect taste, but I wanted...I dunno. Something with a little more oomph. And there was no way I could finish until I'd settled upon the perfect solution.

I consulted Ravelry to see what others had done. No help there. Of the four Ravelers who list this piece as a finished object, only one has bothered with embroidery–and she notes that she hated doing it.

I wanted to push the envelope, if at all possible. Grandly disregarding that my needlework skills have been rusting in the toolshed for over a decade, I hunted down photographs of traditional Japanese, Chinese, and Arab motifs. For a long time I fancied the idea of a dragon swirling around the back, over the shoulders and down the front. Alas, a few small samplers brought home the realization that it would take me another year of work to bring my skill set and my idea into alignment.

Meanwhile, Abigail would move out of baby clothes entirely and begin asking "Does this cut me in the middle?" and "Does this make my butt look big?" and the other questions forced upon ever-younger females in our present Era of Enlightenment.

I was on the verge of giving up and sprinkling the damn piece with the damn daisies when I looked down at my breakfast and realized what I'd do.

Not a dragon. Dragonflies.

That motif, happily, was within my grasp (once I'd practiced French knots a few dozen times). I actually used the simplified insect on the plate to work out my own design.

For good luck, Abigail's kimono has a very tiny swarm of three. One on the front:

And two in the back:

Now all I have to do is ship it express to Maine before she begins work on her dissertation.

94 comments:

I love the dragonflies on the kimono. They are nothing less than inspired, and they work perfectly! Your needle work looks very skilles, and I like the number of three, as well as the placement. Kudos to the fiber artist!

Heh! I used to crochet all my seams together, but one day I decided that if I wanted to be a real knitter(TM) I really must learn to mattress stitch. and you know what? I LOVE it. I just love pulling the yarn and seeing it all come together.Your dragonflies are gorgeous. Must learn to embroider, I really must.

Your dragonflies are quite nice, as are your needlework skills! I don't know how you went about it, but as I tend to put in my two cents prematurely, I'll ask a question first––did you use a stabilizer for the knit? With yarn as the thread it's okay to embroider on knit itself, but check out some stabilizers if you want to expand your creative forays into embroidery; it doesn't have to be hateful.

I love your thoughts on how fast kids grow. When Lewis Carroll(aka Charles Dodgson) wrote Alice In Wonderland, he remarked that by the time he finished, Alice Liddell would be in her twenties.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh! So incredibly cute and what I really, really like is that it is not girly-girl. After she's done with her piano work she'll turn to science, I'll wager. Thanks for the inspiration! MaryB

I think the dragonflies were a very nice choice - not too fussy or girly but they definitely add a lot of interest to the garment. I don't have any little ones to knit for these days, but I think they might be nice on a bigger sweater, too.

Charming dragonflies. Perfect for a baby kimono, elegant but not pretentious, ephemeral and tiny but not twee. Your embroidery skills are better than mine. I'm a bit envious. Every little girl in our enlightened era needs an uncle to tell her that certain questions should not burden the thoughts of little girls, or big ones. We all have more important things to think about. Somebody's got to save this crazy world, after all.

Franklin - to what the others say, I add only 'Yup!'. And I love those dishes too, I think I've seen the set at World Market and admired them for ages. They just don't go with my decor (early student housing/middle dynasty Goodwill). And yes, the dragonflies are perfect - we used to know them as "darning needles" or "sewing needles".

Good for you not to be silly about seaming and embroidery. That book is lovely; I especially recommend the little cardi that ties in a knot at the front (I did it in ice-cream stripes and it was delicious), the hooded top (do a three-needle bind-off on the hood, not a seam) and the little jacket on the front which I have knitted twice now. I think I feel a third one coming up. And yes, you better do them fast :)

lovely!and yes they grow up FAST! It seemed just yesterday that mine was running through the grocery store in a sarong and bells on her ankles singing Deck the Halls! Now she is in Purcell's Dido and Aneaus in her first year of college. Yikes!

you get to eat off of plates that look like THAT? how beautiful! i love the dragonfly embroidery... if you check out my other blog (http://unravelmeblog.blogspot.com) you can see my new dragonfly tattoo :)

Hello, I've only just discovered this site and was amazed to see your lovely dragonfly design on the kimono. I knitted this pattern last year for my grand-daughter and doggedly stuck to the daisies. The only thing I changed was the regularity of the flowers and I made them a little larger. It has been through the wash a hundred times and still looks good. It has also grown with Clemmie.

The addition of dragonflies makes it absolutely beautiful! I have seen the kimono and thought about it for my son, who just turned one this weekend, and I'm knitting him the Classic Cardigan from Ms. Bliss. Dragonflies are also one of my personal favorites.

I'm with Amy -- covetous of dragonflies. And the kimono flies are particularly delectable.

BTW -- I have long said that anyone (and I knew there had to be some out there) who likes seaming and finishing could make a very comfortable living charging more... (I don't want to use the word "normal") ...status quo knitters for such services.

I second (or one hundred?) everybody on the dragonflies. They look great particularly because they are minimalist and suggestive.

What I found while embroidering pillow slips was the simpler the better. I did some rather elaborate overstitched flowers and I'm not liking it so much now -- kind of the Victorian over-upholstered nightmare look.

However, with what I went through to get there, I'm not ripping those stitches out. If I get tired of them, I'll just turn the pillow backwards :-)

Dang, man, are you planning to have kids someday? Your love for that baby girl is so palpable! It chokes me up! I hope to see you be a papa someday. The sweater is gorgeous, too, but I'm sure enjoying this new facet of your posts as you experience this indescribable feeling and yet describe it so aptly.

I love it - my sister will love it but will kill me when she sees your photo's. For our friends babys' christening , she knitted the kimono and embroidered the daisies - even on the bits you don't see. It looks gorgeous (hey we're Presbyterian Scots - fancy is as fancy does!! lol)I've not put it on Ravelry yet - cos its my sisters work - but might to show it off , or would have done until I saw yours with the Dragon flies. Its beautiful - we hate you and your talent ( not really , just really really really jealous!! lol)

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